


season four

by heckinamanda



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: M/M, and I'm really excited about some of these plots and developments!!, i LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH, that I've put a lot into!!, this is a big project for me man!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 10:07:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20356696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heckinamanda/pseuds/heckinamanda
Summary: Andi is surprised to find a familiar face amongst her new classmates; Cyrus goes on a disastrous date with TJ; Buffy finds out who else signed up for the high school basketball team.





	season four

**Author's Note:**

> so!! surprise I guess!! I'm writing my own version of season four. :^D
> 
> I'm not gonna get into spoilers but uh this is such an important project for me rn and some of the plots are very near and dear to me so !! I hope you all will be along for the ride. :^)
> 
> aside from that, there are maNY characters that are gonna show up here, not just those tagged so hold on for a lil bit to see them!!
> 
> (also there will be some thank yous in the notes under the fic!!)

Andi took a deep breath in, holding her hands together in front of her stomach as she walked through unfamiliar halls that were littered with art.

SAVA was serene in the morning. There weren’t as many kids as there were at Jefferson, and the sunlight peaking through the windows always added something to the pieces—she thought it felt magical.

But with that first day magic comes the first day anxiety, as she managed to get into this seemingly elusive school with her less than impressive application. What if these people are better than her and know it? What if it was all a mistake and she wasn’t actually supposed to be here? What if she hates it here and has to live out the rest of her high school days without her best friends and—

Her dizzying worries came to a stop when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out to find an incoming video call from Cyrus.

“Hey!” Cyrus and Buffy greeted in cheerful unison after she answered the call.

“Hey!” she waved at her phone, continuing her walk. “I was just thinking about you guys.”

“Good things I hope,” Buffy said.

“Forget about us, how’s SAVA?” Cyrus asked excitedly.

“The same as when I first visited—full of art,” she said. “I’m on my way to the community studio right now.”

He pulled a confused expression. “Is that a class?”

“It’s more of a shared workshop where you can work on projects. Plus, you don’t have to pay to use it,” she explained. “The tour guide told me that some kids like to bounce ideas off of each other there or get support.”

She saw Buffy smile. “Sounds fun.”

“I hope so. It’s gonna be my first time meeting some of my classmates—if anyone is even in there,” she said. “What about you guys? How’s Grant?”

“Well, if you couldn’t tell—” Buffy reversed the camera to reveal their feet walking over some random sidewalk drawings. “—We aren’t there.”

“But we almost are,” Cyrus said. “Ah, Grant, where giant bullies and peer pressure await.”

Even from across town, both the girls rolled their eyes at the same time.

“You’ll be fine,” Andi said. “You have each other.”

“Seriously,” Buffy put her free arm around him. “Not to mention TJ, Jonah, _and_ Amber.”

“Wow, we really do have a small gang,” he said.

Andi laughed, but it ended quickly. Her two best friends mentioning all of her _other_ friends had a special way of reminding her that she was alone at SAVA.

She noticed that she was approaching a door with a red ‘COMMUNITY STUDIO’ plaque next to it.

“Oh, I gotta go. I have reached my destination,” she said the last part in a mock GPS voice which made her best friends laugh—something that will comfort her to no end.

“Have fun,” Cyrus said. “Go make stuff, Michael-Andi-lo.”

“Stop, please,” Buffy groaned. “How could you leave me alone with this?”

She laughed. “Sorry, Buffy. We’ll hang out soon to make up for it.”

“Of course we will,” Buffy said matter-of-factly.

“We _all_ will,” Cyrus added.

“I wouldn’t dream of it any other way, Cyrus,” she said. “I’m gonna head in there. Wish me luck?”

“Good luck!”

“Best of luck!”

“Don’t one up me, Cyrus.”

She laughed and said her goodbyes, ending the call as she reached the large white door. She took one last deep breath and slowly pushed it open.

* * *

“I just can’t believe they’re doing sign-ups on the first day,” Jonah said, bewildered.

“Apparently they do every year,” Buffy said.

“I guess Grant is really serious about basketball,” Cyrus added.

“Good, because so am I,” she said. “And I have to work even harder this year than before—the girls on this team are _incredible_.”

“So are you,” Jonah said. “I’ve never seen anyone more dedicated.”

“I’ll admit that TJ might be tied with me,” she said. “Y’know, with his basketball couture and everything.”

“Hey, he makes those shirts work,” Cyrus defended his boyfriend despite her and Jonah’s laughter. All jokes aside, she knew everyone in their friend group cared a lot about TJ these days—especially her. They had actually become pretty good friends.

“They’re fine, I might need his over-the-top love for basketball after school anyway,” she told him.

Cyrus stopped walking. “For what?”

She and Jonah stopped alongside him. “For practicing?”

She was gonna work on some skills with Kaitlyn and Maria after school on the outdoor basketball court and had asked Cyrus to come—his support always did wonders for her two teammates. She never asked TJ but figured that he would make a good addition to the workout _and_ morale. Plus, the pair loved being together.

“Oh, about that…” Cyrus grabbed the strap of his book bag. “TJ and I are supposed to go out after school and I planned some really extravagant stuff and it’s one of our first _real_ dates because we usually just watch movies on the couch an—”

“Cyrus,” she put her hands on his shoulders to stop his rambling. “I get it.”

“I’m sorry,” he reached over and hugged her tightly. “But you’re the best.”

“That’s not news.” She smirked, breaking out of the hug.

“Of course it’s not,” he said. “But I actually need to go find TJ now so I’m—I’m just gonna—”

He gesticulated, ending in an awkward thumbs up before leaving Buffy and Jonah alone.

“Alright,” she mumbled, then turned to Jonah. “Jonah, you in?”

“Do I have to play against you?” he asked.

“Nope, just shout nice things from the bleachers.”

“I can do that,” he grinned. “I’m in.”

“Perfect.”

They kept walking towards the gym, where sign-ups were being held on a table right outside of it.

She took a deep breath and grabbed the pen. “Here we go.”

“Buffy Driscoll, high school basketball captain,” Jonah said dreamily from beside her.

“I’m not the captain,” she corrected as she signed the sheet.

“Yeah, not _yet_,” he said. She resisted the urge to jump in the air at the mere idea of being the captain at Grant. “Did anyone you know sign up yet?”

“Yeah,” she scanned the list, eyes running over many names she didn’t recognize before landing on ones like Kaitlyn, Maria, and… “Oh no.”

He read over her shoulder. “What?”

“Kira signed up.”

“Who’s that?” he asked.

She looked at him incredulously. “Do you seriously not know who Kira is?”

He shrugged. “Was I supposed to?”

“Honestly, no,” she looked back down at the paper. “She’s just another bully.”

* * *

Cyrus scanned the halls, looking for a tall boy who was probably wearing a hoodie and an unfortunate amount of hair gel—otherwise known as his boyfriend.

It didn’t take very long to find him, mostly thanks to the aforementioned height. “TJ!”

He whipped around upon hearing his name and smiled widely. “Cyrus!”

“Hey,” Cyrus moved in closer. “I’m so excited for later.”

“Me too,” TJ smiled again. “I’m gonna have to stop and see my tutor first, though. She’s got new math books for me.”

“Copy that,” he said. “High school life.”

TJ laughed. “It’ll only take a few minutes to pick them up, then I’ll meet you at your house.”

“No, just go home,” he told him. “I want to pick you up.”

“Okay,” TJ agreed. “But I get to walk you home?”

“Deal.”

They shook on it, holding their hands together for a few seconds more than friends would.

“I’ll see you later,” TJ said fondly, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Later,” he said, tapping him back.

He watched TJ walk away, waving gently when his boyfriend threw one last fond glance back over his shoulder.

Today was gonna be a good day.

* * *

The first thing Andi noticed when walking into the community studio was a realistic tree sculpture about the size of herself with sunlight shining directly behind it. It had some aged strips of paper hanging off of the branches with words that she couldn’t see from the doorway—effectively imitating a weeping willow.

She stared at it for a few seconds in awe before the person standing next to it coughed awkwardly. She turned her attention towards the aforementioned person who was nervously rocking back and forth on her feet.

“Uh, hey,” the girl said quietly.

“Oh, hi! I’m—hi, I’m Andi,” she trotted towards her and the sculpture. “Sorry about, y’know, staring. This is just… _Incredible_.”

“Thanks,” she smiled bashfully and adjusted her lilac hijab. “I’m Dua.”

“Nice to meet you,” she stuck her hand out, which Dua shook. When they let go, Andi gestured back at the tree. “It’s the first day, when did you even find time to make this?”

She shrugged as she looked down at her black boots. “There’s a summer program that juniors and seniors can take if they want.”

“Sounds nice,” she said before leaning her face closer to the tree. “What does the paper say?”

“Oh, it’s just a bunch of stuff from letters and diaries that my family wrote over time,” Dua said, running a hand through the strips before gently holding onto one. “This one’s from a love letter written by my great grandfather to my great grandmother.”

“_Whoa_,” she said. “A family tree.”

Dua smiled, pushing up her round glasses. “Exactly.”

She eyed the tree for a while. So far, SAVA was as advertised—full of creative people with lots of ambition.

“If you’re impressed with this, you should meet Irene,” Dua spoke up again. She turned her head towards the other end of the room. “Hey, Irene!”

Andi followed her shout to a freckled girl writing something down. She looked up from her notebook and smiled at Dua as she waved her over.

“Hey there,” the redhead joined the pair, lifting her hand up off of her wheelchair for Andi to shake. “Irene.”

“Andi,” she shook it happily. “So, which one’s yours?”

“Well, I haven’t started any new projects yet—obviously,” she told her. “But my SAVASP project is in the display hall.”

Andi furrowed her eyebrows in amazed shock. “The one with the arrows?”

She remembered coming into the display hall sometime before she found the studio. As soon as she looked up she found a set of multiple white targets on both walls, each in different spots close to the high ceilings. On the targets were arrows with colored string tied to the ends, each string overlapping the other and forming some type of rainbow explosion. Andi thought it was _amazing_.

“Yep. Each color represents someone important in my life,” Irene explained with a smile. “I didn’t think they would let me shoot literal arrows in the display hall, but they were really open to it after I told them my concept.”

She cocked her head. “How did you even hit all those targets?”

“I’ve played competitive archery since I was eleven,” she said casually—as if that were a casual thing to Andi at all.

“Wow,” she breathed. “You guys are amazing.”

“Then you’ll fit right in,” a voice said from behind her.

She whipped her head around in surprise—a feeling that didn’t fade upon seeing the boy walking through the door. “Walker?”

“Andi Mack!” Walker replied happily.

She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were enrolled here.”

“And I didn’t know that you were,” he said, smiling everpresent. “But we haven’t talked in a while, so.”

“Yeah,” she bit her lip. “I guess we haven’t.”

* * *

Cyrus knocked on the door to the Kippen household, hoping by some miracle that TJ would be there first.

But alas, that wasn’t the case as his mom opened the door. “Ms. Kippen! Is TJ home?”

“Not yet, no,” she opened the door fully. “But you can wait for him inside.”

He stepped inside. “Thank you, Ms. Kippen.”

“Cyrus, I’ve talked to you a million times about that whole formal thing,” she laughed. “Just call me Katherine.”

“Sorry Ms. K—Katherine,” he said. “I’m still getting used to it.”

“Understandable, kid,” she made her way to the kitchen. “But you’re dating my son, so it’s totally fine to drop the whole Ms. Biz.”

Cyrus always got so happy whenever she referred to him as TJ’s boyfriend. He hadn’t come out to any of his own parents yet, so having more spaces to be open was amazing—especially with Katherine, who he was quite fond of now. He'd never tell anyone, but she’s way less uptight than his mom.

“I made cookies,” she said from the kitchen. “Chocolate chip. You like those, right?”

“Like? _Love_,” he said. “As if anyone doesn’t.”

She brought them out on a tray. “Break-n-bakes.”

“Sounds perfect to me,” he grabbed one off of the tray. After he bit into it, he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket, reading the text from TJ. “Oh no.”

“What’s goin’ on?” Katherine asked.

“TJ’s math tutor wants to go over some of the material before tomorrow,” he explained. “So he’ll be a little while longer.”

“Well,” she lifted up the tray. “Good thing we’ve got 24 of these.”

* * *

“Pass, pass, pass!” Buffy instructed from her position on the worn down court. “I’m open!”

Maria passed the ball to her as told, which she caught and tossed effortlessly into the net—despite Jonah standing right in front of her, not doing much defending.

“Great play!” she clapped Maria on the back and jogged back to her position. “Let’s try five now, okay?”

“You said I wouldn’t have to play against you,” Jonah grumbled.

She adjusted her ponytail. “Come on, I thought you liked challenging me.”

“Yeah, when we’re evenly matched,” he said. “Like in arm wrestling or carnival games.”

“Oh, Jonah,” she shook her head in mock sympathy. “We are _not_ evenly matched in those.”

He rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling.

“Besides, we need someone to play the other team,” she continued. “Our threat.”

“Do I look threatening to any of you?” he asked the girls, holding his arms out. Buffy eyed his green Kool-Aid man shirt and dark blue jeans, sighing.

“Fine, we’ll take a water break,” she walked over to the bleachers. “Coward.”

“So,” Kaitlyn sat down. “What are our chances of making the team?”

“100%,” Buffy said without a second thought.

Kaitlyn gave her a look after taking a sip from her water bottle. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” she said. “You guys have come so far, there’s no way you aren’t making it.”

“But did you see all of the girls that signed up?” Kaitlyn mentioned. “This is nothing like The Spikes—they actually have numbers.”

“And a lot of them have been on the team before,” Maria pointed out. “We’re just freshmen.”

“_Good_ freshmen,” Buffy said. “Would I lie to you guys?”

The pair stayed quiet for a second.

“…No,” Maria mumbled.

“But that doesn’t mean that you’re gonna be right,” Kaitlyn said.

“I can assure you,” Buffy cocked her head to HE side smugly. “I’m always right.”

“And what about Kira?” Kaitlyn unexpectedly mentioning her name made Buffy lose composure for a moment. “The captain here might not boot her for attitude like you.”

“Trust me,” Buffy reached out and put her hands over Kaitlyn and Maria’s. “As long as I’m here, she’s not gonna bother you guys.”

Maria nodded. “I trust our captain.”

Kaitlyn blushed slightly and slowly pulled her hand away. “…Me too.”

Buffy smiled at the high school remnants of her middle school team. She hoped that The Spikes would do good in the upcoming season without this trio.

“Okay, one more time,” Jonah spoke up. “Who is Kira?”

She laughed slightly before taking a few sips from her water bottle. She supposed that now was probably a good time to let Jonah in the loop—save for a few details.

* * *

“Again, I’m _so_ sorry for being late,” TJ apologized—for about the hundredth time since their walk to Adrenaline City.

“Teej, it’s okay,” Cyrus said. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“An hour isn’t that bad?” TJ deadpanned.

“Not for me,” he said, hooking his water bottle to a belt loop. “Your mom is super cool.”

He saw TJ roll his eyes. “Well, an hour of math is _not_ super cool.”

“Sorry,” he squeezed the hand he was holding sympathetically. “But we’re together now, and get to spend the rest of the day at Adrenaline City.”

“Do you have enough motion sickness patches for that?” TJ asked, genuinely concerned.

He grimaced. “That didn’t sound romantic at all.”

“But do you?”

“…Yes.”

They walked a few more blocks to end up at the closed front gate. For a place with adrenaline in the title, it seemed pretty dead.

“Look.” TJ pointed to the sign hanging on the gate.

“_Closed for fall renovations_,” Cyrus read aloud. “_Will reopen early spring_.”

He deflated. There goes their date.

“Hey,” TJ must’ve noticed his obvious body language. “It’s okay. We can go somewhere else.”

“Where?” he asked.

TJ thought for a moment. “Oh! What about that new mini golf place?”

“The one with the glow in the dark section?” he flashed a smile that quickly diminished. “That’s so far from here, though.”

“Nah, I know a short cut,” TJ said, starting to tug his hand along gently. “You in?”

He followed his pull. “I’m in.”

* * *

“Ow,” Andi mumbled to herself, tripping slightly over a dip in the sidewalk. Thankfully, she caught herself and didn’t fall completely to the ground or—more importantly—drop her craft supplies.

The craft supplies in question were what impaired her vision. She found an art store a few minutes from SAVA and it was the first place she went after school let out for the day, of course. She bought tons of stuff for her room and a few random things that she might need later, all of which needed to be put into two boxes that she was carrying back to the dorms.

“Need some help?”

She certainly recognized the voice, but peeked around the boxes anyway to find Walker. “No thanks, I got it.”

She started to walk forward only to stumble over raised concrete.

“You sure about that?” he took the smaller of the two boxes off the top. “You can totally have this back if you want to walk into traffic, though.”

“Very funny,” she rolled her eyes and they started walking together, quickly syncing up. “…Thanks.”

“No problem,” he said. “What’s in these anyway?”

“It’s just a few craft supplies to make my dorm more homey,” she explained. “I got them from this really cool shop down the street.”

“Donna’s?” he asked, earning a nod in response. “I love _Donna’s_. They have craft classes on the weekends—I volunteer there.”

“That’s really nice,” she recalled seeing a flyer inside for free crafting sessions, Saturday being for kids and Sunday being for seniors. “I didn’t know that.”

“There seems to be a lot you don’t know about me,” he said. “But you should come by sometime ’n volunteer. I bet they’d love the things you make.”

She smiled. “Maybe I will.”

After that, they stayed silent as they continued walking back to the dorms. Walker seemed content, but Andi wanted nothing more than to start telling him about all of her projects that he missed out on—but she needed to smoothly clear the air first.

“So…” she began awkwardly. “Can we talk? About the thing, I mean. Like, with you and Buffy. That thing.”

Nailed it.

“There doesn’t seem like there’s a lot to talk about,” he shrugged. “Things just didn’t work out.”

“Yeah, okay, but what were _things_?” she asked. “Not to pry. It’s just—Buffy never really talked about what you guys were, and then it ended and you were suddenly out of the picture again.”

“Yeah, I guess when we stopped talking I figured it’d be best to go,” he said. “Sorry that I didn’t keep in touch.”

“It’s okay,” she said sincerely. “I think the universe brought us back together anyway.”

She looked over to see him smiling at that.

“I think so too,” he agreed. “But anyways, it wasn’t much of anything. We started texting over the summer and bonded a lot over having military moms.”

“Your mom is in the military?” she asked.

“Both of ’em,” he confirmed. “So we had a lot to talk about and I guess I developed a little crush on her.”

For the first time since she met him, he actually looked embarrassed. Things usually seem to roll off of his shoulders with ease.

“But I never told her for real,” he continued. “I was gonna tell her at the fall formal, but we know how that turned out.”

He shrugged it off with a halfhearted smile. Back to the ease, mostly.

“I’m sorry,” she said sympathetically. She knew what it was like to feel led on.

“It’s totally okay,” he said. “She never had to say yes—I get it.”

And now Andi got it—closure for a strange period in her life. She was confused and hurt and felt jealousy to no end, and even though that had long since passed, it was nice to know the full story.

“What about the shoes?” she asked. “The ones you made for Buffy.”

“She didn’t want them, so I went ahead and donated them,” he told her. “What about you, d’you still have yours?”

She waited a moment before answering his question. “…Yeah, I do. I hope that’s not weird.”

“They’re _your_ shoes, it’s cool,” he laughed at her concern. “I make everyone shoes. I even had some designs planned for Cyrus and Jonah until, y’know.”

“Well, I’m sure they’d appreciate them now.” Much like she appreciated him being here at all—it was nice to have someone familiar in a new place. With Walker, being away from her friends might not be so lonely after all.

* * *

Cyrus looked up at the clouds gathering beyond the trees. “Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with you, but I am _not_ a fan of this short cut.”

“Trust me, it won’t be that much longer,” TJ walked a bit in front of him. “I used to get to the other side of Shadyside through these woods all the time.”

“So you do know where you’re going?” he deadpanned.

TJ looked back at him with a flat expression. “Yes, I know where I’m going.”

They resumed walking. “What does poison ivy look like?”

TJ laughed slightly. “We didn’t pass any.”

“Alright, fine,” he crossed his arms. “What about poison oak?”

“_Cyrus_,” TJ turned around with an amused smile, stopping to put his hands on Cyrus’ shoulders. “Nothing is going to poison you.”

“Okay, but I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries about plants and—”

He was cut off by a loud roll of thunder. TJ jumped behind him faster than he’d ever seen him move—and he’s an _athlete_.

“Wow,” he mumbled nervously. “Did you see lightning?”

Cyrus turned around to face him. “Are you afraid of storms?”

He bit his lip. “Yeah—I mean, no—but like, we’re outside and… All that.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe,” Cyrus said, half-joking. He pulled TJ into a tight hug, slipping away quickly when he heard his water bottle hit the ground. “Oh dear—”

TJ leaned down to pick it up for him. “I don’t think it was screwed on all the way.”

“I think you’re right,” he noticed the cap still attached to his belt loop. “Thanks.”

TJ stood back up to hand it back to him, revealing a brand new stain on his gray hoodie.

“Ah ge—I’m sorry, TJ,” he whined, gesturing to the stain. “You can wash it when we get back to my house.”

“It’s fine,” TJ pulled his drawstring off of his back and pulled out a navy hoodie. “I always bring an extra.”

_Of course_.

He quickly swapped hoodies. Cyrus eyed his own face staring back at him.

“What?” TJ put his hands in his pockets. “You gave everyone one of these at your bar mitzvah.”

Before he could respond to that, raindrops started coming down in gentle taps.

“…We should get moving.”

* * *

Andi and Walker walked into her bare dorm room, the former walking towards her luggage to set the large box down.

“You can just put it over here too,” she instructed.

“Gotcha,” he said, plopping it down next to the bigger one. “Need any help setting up?”

“Actually,” she opened up one of the boxes. “I’d appreciate an extra hand.”

Walker opened up the second box, both of them starting to pull random things out.

“Why did you buy this?” He held up an abstract pig statue which she snatched away from him.

“Because it’s art,” she said, placing it on her bedside table.

“If you say so,” he laughed. He grabbed out a massive case of puffy paint. “Dude.”

“I might need all of those colors one day,” she pulled out string lights and tossed them at him. “Put those up above my bed instead of judging my purchases.”

He put the case down. “You got it boss.”

She grabbed out a couple more knick-knacks out, setting them up around the room.

“So,” Walker spoke up. She looked over at him to see a struggle with untangling wires. “How are your parents?”

“Super great,” she answered cheerfully. “They went on their honeymoon a while back.”

“They finally tied the knot?” he asked with a playful tone.

“_Finally_,” she said.

“And what about the Good Hair Crew?” he asked.

“The same way you left them,” she started unpacking her luggage. “Well, not really. Things are actually pretty different.”

“Different can be good,” he said.

“And it definitely is. Cyrus has actually improved a lot with his dancing—well, not a lot, but he can keep up with a routine,” she told him, pulling out a small album of polaroids. “Mostly.”

He laughed. “Sounds like Cyrus.”

“Yep. But he’s doing well,” she said fondly, opening up the album. “So is Buffy. She suffered a stress fracture, but The Spikes still won the last basketball game of the middle school year—thanks to her coaching, for sure.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re all doing well,” he said. She turned around to see him focused on hanging up the lights. Once he finished putting up the last wire, he raised his arms up triumphantly. “Aha!”

“Great job,” shook her head, holding up the album for him. “Now get over here and look at what you missed.”

* * *

“Runrunrun!” TJ rushed out with laughter.

“I’m trying!” Cyrus shouted over the rain pouring down on them, his own laughter present as well. “We can’t all be basketball stars!”

They ran hand in hand on the sidewalk, careful not to trip before they reached the walkway to Cyrus’ house where they could comfortably jog instead.

“Home stretch,” TJ said.

“Finally,” he sighed, walking up the stairs. “I think the rain is weighing me down.”

“Definitely,” TJ chuckled, shaking out his wet hair. It was messy and sticking to his forehead, so Cyrus took that as an opportunity to gently push it back upwards. “…Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he smiled at TJ’s red face. “Sorry about our date.”

“What do you mean?” TJ furrowed his eyebrows.

“I mean,” he let go of TJ’s hand to gesture between them. “Adrenaline City was closed, we had to skip mini golf because we got lost, you’re wearing a shirt with _my face_ on it—”

“Hey, I like this shirt,” TJ cut him off gently. “And I like your face.”

“I—well,” he blushed, taken aback by the compliment. “I like you.”

“I like you too,” TJ said quietly. “And I liked our date. What we do doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re spending time together.”

He smiled softly, grabbing both of TJ’s hands. “You know, you have a way of making me feel less negative about things.”

“Is that a good thing?” TJ asked.

“Most of the time,” he teased. “Sometimes you have to let me sulk.”

TJ laughed. “Deal.”

Slowly, he leaned down and gave Cyrus a kiss on the cheek. It wasn’t the first time one of them had done that and certainly wouldn’t be the last, but it never stopped making Cyrus’ toes curl.

“I’ll see you later,” TJ said, turning to make his way down the stairs.

“Hey, wait,” he called. TJ half turned around, the rain clearing up and giving him a soft glow. He wanted to count every drop of rain dotting his freckled cheeks.

“Yeah?”

“Buffy and Jonah don’t get here for a few more hours,” he pointed at his front door. “Wanna watch some movies?”

TJ broke out into a grin. “Definitely.”

* * *

“And then he _kissed_ me—on the cheek, but still—”

“Oh, another cheek kiss?” Andi teased through the phone. “Then what happened?”

“We went inside and watched the original Jurassic Park,” he said. “Then he left and I jumped around while waiting for Buffy to come over so I could jump around with someone.”

“Of course,” she said, looking over her two best friends on the couch in Cyrus’ basement.

“And boy, we jumped for so long,” he said happily.

“Too long,” Buffy grumbled. “My legs got even more sore.”

“That’s what you get for doing basketball stuff,” he scolded her. “Do you remember your stress fracture?”

“No, I completely forgot about that time where I had to wear a boot and not play the sports I like,” she said sarcastically. “We were only playing for an hour anyways, and then I practiced solo for another hour _tops_. That’s nothing.”

“That’s two hours too many for me,” Andi said.

“And me,” Cyrus agreed.

“Whatever,” Buffy said fondly. “That was my day—and Cyrus’, obviously. What about you, Andi?”

“Oh, wow,” she looked off into the distance, remembering all of the art she saw and people she met—and the person that she reintroduced herself too. “It was really overwhelming.”

“I’m sure it was. It’s a big change,” Cyrus said.

“Definitely,” she sighed, grabbing a teal heart pillow and hugging it with her phone-less hand. “But a good one. Everyone here is so smart and good at what they do.”

“Yeah, why do you think you’re there?” Cyrus smiled.

“I bet you fit in perfectly,” Buffy tugged at her heart necklace. “How many people were lining up to be your friend? Be honest.”

Andi held back a snort. “I promise, there were no lines for me. I did meet some new people though. I really liked these girls Dua and Irene.”

“Excellent names,” Cyrus commented. “I approve so far.”

“You should see what they can do,” she raved. “They’re like, _talented_ talented. Irene is into a lot of string art and color—she used _arrows_ in her last project—and Dua is into sculpting and poetry which she actually let me read some of! It’s so… Visceral? It’s just like, feelings. You know?”

“No, but it sounds pretty,” Buffy said.

“I think I get it,” Cyrus said. “Is it the way you feel when the gazelle dies in nature documentaries?”

Andi squinted and knit her eyebrows inward. “Maybe?”

“Probably not,” Buffy said.

“I also ran into someone there,” she continued. “Guess who.”

“I’ll pass,” Cyrus said. “I never win those games.”

“I’ll guess L—”

“Walker,” Andi couldn’t help herself. “Walker goes to SAVA.”

The duo on her screen was silent for a moment, which she did not blame on a poor internet connection.

“Oh,” Cyrus said.

“Was it as awkward as you’d think it would be?” Buffy asked.

“Actually, no,” she said. “It was nice knowing someone here, even just a little bit. It didn’t feel as big and terrifying.”

They both smiled.

“I’m glad,” Buffy said genuinely.

“Cyrus!” Cyrus’ Mom called from upstairs. “Jonah’s here!”

“Okay, basement door’s open!” he called back to them. A few seconds later, Andi could hear a distant thump in the background.

“Hey guys!” Jonah flopped down in between them on the couch. “Hey, Andiman!”

“Hey Jonah Beck,” she greeted him. Soon after, they got onto a tangent about new ‘dessert taters’ at The Spoon.

While the three delved into the sanctity of savory taters VS the call for new times and new experiences, Andi’s mind wandered elsewhere.

It was just one day of being away from them. Her friends, her family, her apartment that her dad never finished, everything. It was the start of every day for the next four years—for everyone.

She looked up at the comforting string lights that were hung above her dorm bed and sighed quietly.

_This is gonna be an interesting school year_.

**Author's Note:**

> time for thanking!! first off, a quick thank you to innayah (@tjskipping on tumblr) for naming my character dua. :^D
> 
> and ofc thank you to jacob (@jonahdisasterbeck on tumblr) for being a pillar of this creation!! I wouldn't have started this if it weren't for your consistent encouragement and support from the very beginning (+ willingness to listen to me talk about all the ding dang plots) and I appreciate you daily for it. <3 keep being the best person to bounce ideas off of pls
> 
> and finally, thank you to annabelle (@bandi-mack on tumblr) for listening to me ramble about some of these plots and facetiming with me for hours just to draw them!! your support and art has literally meant the world to me and I'm so lucky to have such a kind friend in you. <3 (you can see her first episode art [here!!](https://bandi-mack.tumblr.com/post/187383677070/swingsetboys-season-4-andi-mack-preview-art-the))
> 
> [my tumblr!!](https://swingsetboys.tumblr.com)


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